Big Fan Of Lee's "Stone Might Also Be An Orphan", But I Always Thought How Insane It Would Be If Stone

he could feel himself starting to clam up again. julius hadn't been finished, he'd just paused to try and figure out how to word the rest of it. if he could. it'd been hard enough to even get out those small bits and portions. & where stone might think his words were comforting, they were the exact opposite.

⸻ all that did was reaffirm to julius that he was supposed to be the one to be in that position. to be the one leading. to be the one that was meant to be sadistic. or to be the one that was meant to ⸻ what had he said? 'enslave humanity'? not unlike that time julius'd been told he was to lead his squadron despite not wanting to at all and feeling as though james had been better for the job.

if he had the energy in him, he might've gotten angered. but that odd numbness that settled into his heart and mind, sort of felt like a fog. like what little bit of hope he had for that ever happening cracked and slipped away. & julius just, let it.

"....." he isn't certain what to say, to stone telling him that he was happy that he trusted him enough. he exhales, and lets go of his hand before standing up, forcing himself to, even though he doesn't truly want to.

a big part of stone wasn't surprised with the reply julius gave, as he figured they had to be something someone wouldn't want to actually voice. the thing stone was surprised about was the man's willingness to humor him and actually give an explanation. stone knew it was likely very difficult if julius' body language were any give away.

however when the topic changes to him, or rather the stone that belonged to julius' timeline, he felt his heart start to race. how odd it was to hear those words come from his mouth, as if julius were some sort of mindreader and was voicing the thoughts stone had a long, long time ago.

it was the same explanation he would have given to ivo if he were able, but that didn't matter. not anymore, not since...

he meets julius' gaze with a soft one if his own, trying to figure out how to reply.

"I know how you feel. those thoughts that you have. they were the same words I wished I had told to ivo, before he..." he quiets, clearing his throat as he wills the tears away, "before he sacrificed himself. I'm not sure what happened to your stone, but I have a feeling we are in the same situation where we are missing our respective companions."

again silence on stone's part, but it is only a moment before he speaks again. "I am happy you trust me enough to share such a personal and vulnerable part of yourself with me."

johnny: exists

julius: INTERNAL GAY PANICK CAUSE OHNO HE'S HOT???

julius externally: must be polite, he has value because he's a person first and foremost & i want to get to know my fellow soldiers

also julius internally:

"yes, you. I have a question."

not chaos energy, exactly, but not dissimilar in sensation. he couldn't tap into it though as easily as he could've with chaos energy. not that julius was going to try, currently, too spent from that dimensional hop to bother trying. so he'd been wandering around, not really caring how suspicious it may look that a total stranger was wandering about, peering in through windows as though looking for something.

honestly he was trying to gather an understanding of this universe. & sometimes that meant peeping through windows to look into businesses or homes to check things like decor, technological advances or lack thereof.

so of course someone ratted julius out and called the authorities. lovely. it seemed no matter what universe he found himself in, he'd need to deal with these uppity pricks. his gaze narrowed a fraction behind those sunglasses at this uniformed person's appearance: fishlike in all but how he stood. made julius think of mobians but if they were even more humanoid. hm.

where in hells name had he ended up.

"& what can i help you with, officer."

what day was it; what time. how long had he been here. the seconds blurred into minutes, into hours, into inability to perceive time. julius had thought he'd had bad concept of how long it'd been before, that had been child's play comparatively, to this.

he never moved, not from that spot. & no guards ( he could only surmise he was being held in some sort of G.U.N facility ) ever came to check in on him. supposed it was now more of a curse that he needn't eat, nor really breathe, or drink any liquid in order to survive. could've been kept down here a millennia and it wouldn't have changed anything for julius.

no real danger of dying. just listening to his own haggard, low breaths. he'd screamed until there was nothing left in his lungs to give. now, as it was, staring blankly ahead, all he could do was try. try and grasp for any small semblance of that chaos energy in his body, in the air surrounding him, and hold on. hope that he could push into it, or pull it closer to himself, start to build it. like starting over from scratch after having mastered a technique. a fumbling baby deer unable to walk, or a flightless baby bird. kept slipping, unable to hold on for long enough. or whatever restraints those bastards put on him kept on diluting that energy to the point it wouldn't spark, could barely breathe.

eventually, though he tried to stave it off, he began to sob. it wasn't even sheer sorrow that the sobbing had been inspired by; anger, mostly. that betrayal that kept growing and growing, morphing into disbelief and then hatred and then a numbness, rinse and repeat. that feeling of being abandoned, left alone to rot. forgotten by time. he clenched his hands together so hard beneath those restraints it was a wonder he hadn't shredded his palms to bits.

he kept thinking back to stone ⸻ having only met him the once, for barely maybe 10 minutes at that, an unrequited hug before stone had left ⸻ & wishing he were here. where are you, he kept thinking, not out of blame. not out of rage or anger, not towards stone, but the circumstances. that sheer helplessness of his situation. why aren't you bursting into here and ⸻ and what? why should julius expect to be saved, or needed, quite frankly.

that only caused his sobbing to get worse, that slow realization that, he wasn't necessary. he could die here and no one would turn their head elsewise. doubted anyone even knew he was gone, or if they did, all he could think was why. why was he still here then. why couldn't⸻ just someone, anyone⸻ not not even anyone his mind kept going back to stone, that hug ⸻ unreturned, but julius had hugged sonic too, before THAT BASTARD⸻

ragged inhales, that rage returning and eclipsing the numbness. he wanted sonic dead. he wanted sonic alive, so he could demand an answer out of him. wanted sonic screaming. wanted sonic safe. wanted to just turn back time and never accept that stupid invitation. should've known something wasn't right. sonic never invited julius anywhere. he had been so blinded by disbelief and by the small joy at being included⸻

weak. stupid. useless.

more screaming, not caring if his throat was raw, pushing beyond the limits of his vocal chords. knew they'd heal, even if it took time and at a slower crawl than normal. whatever was restricting his chaos energy usage wasn't affecting his healing. the sick fucks. he'd almost respect it if he wasn't so god damned offended & insulted, ashamed.

alone.

with nothing to do but think, but stew. trying and failing to come up with plans to escape.

eventually, his eyes lulled closed, wishing he could sleep. pass out again. couldn't, body didn't need sleep. another form of torture and using his own abilities against him.

wished he were dead. wanted to live to⸻ he didn't even know. to spite them. wanted to give up. but something in him writhed at the notion: coward. weak bastard. fight. go down screaming and cursing if you must, but don't let them win. never truly.

so he waited. bided his time. it was all he could do.

I didn’t miss that social cue I just thought it was stupid 

⸻ he had nothing left, now. what little that truly mattered to him, naught but ash. not even a body he could hold. to mourn. to apologize. to possibly cradle. bootfalls rushing toward his location, rounding that corner and stopping once they saw the carnage and destruction. his chaos energy so out of control, rising and peaking and drenching the very air in this corridor that it caused the emergency lights themselves to short-circuit. washing julius in darkness, save for his red irises. his red irises were visible in that darkness, glowing brightly.

sound of a gunshot, muzzle flash as those G.U.N soldiers opened fire on him. the bullets impacted his skin, causing him to jerk slightly. felt them enter, blood pour, but then that healing and chaos energy made the bullets evaporate before they could exit through him. human weaponry couldn't truly harm him now. they fired at him more, their eyes terrified of how he wasn't going down to their weapons-

his eyes glowed brighter in that darkness.

silently, fueled by rage and hatred, he charged forward and blinked from existence before reappearing in front of one of the soldiers. using that momentum and rage to punch a hole through the man's face, yanking him forward to shield from those bullets, only to toss the corpse aside. glowing in his left hand now, a mini chaos plasma attack, like a knife. he slits the other man's throat with an adeptness that should startle him but doesn't. he's calm. blood sprays forward, coating him as that body slumps.

julius stands there, staring at the wall in front of him. no satisfaction at the sight, the knowledge. there was a slight tickling of that sensation, a barely there notion of enjoyment. numbed over from the reality of his situation at present. more footfalls nearby him, he glances over at the feeling of bullets piercing his shirt and entering his skin, only to heal and fizzle away again.

slaughters his way through the soldiers that between him and his end destination. a newly pristine living quarters, assigned to one james stone. julius stood there, staring down at that dark black jacket that james often wore. sounds of distant alarms from that open door, wash of red from the corridor. a slightly quaking hand reached out, hesitated before cradling that jacket. pulls it closer, hugging it, burying his face into it, inhaling. his scent. muffled, quiet, broken sobs wet that fabric. lowers onto his knees, clinging and pulling that empty jacket closer to himself.

inhaling, a small sniffle of a noise, julius pulled that jacket away from his face. stared down at it. he stood up then, discarding his old bullet ridden one, before pulling on james' old jacket. he has to pull the sleeves off as they're too short to fit his frame properly, but he can sew on new sleeves later on. his gaze lists, noting old sunglasses on the nearby table. walks over to them and lifts them up, a thumb roaming the frame, noting that purple tint. a shaking hollow smile, julius puts those sunglasses on. hoping, at least in some way, by keeping his clothes, by wearing these sunglasses, by holding himself in a way that james may have, that james stone may yet live on.

at the very least, in spirit.

post 🎉 and let your followers tell you about how you're doing with you character portrayal underneath!

i'd like to know you ⸻ hearing those words felt, bizarre. as precious and as warm as sunlight, they felt & yet that ever present and nagging fear, numbness threatened julius at the mere notion. the mere fraction of a thought: until you won't. until julius said or did something that was too much, too confusing, too outlandish or too contradictory, or too selfish or too sensitive or too⸻ he was scared, at the thought of losing this. losing him.

& just how much of himself was he willing to give, could he give? could he give parts that stone would help him to understand? julius had always wondered that, how he was supposed to just KNOW things innately when no one ever bothered to teach him, to explain, to show him. to let him feel, not that he felt very often or for very long.

at the reassuring smile, julius gives a small, awkward, brief one in return. like he isn't used to smiling very often, never sincerely. at what is said next, julius blinks, his turn to be caught off guard. oh. right. he supposed they never introduced themselves, did they?

"julius," he steps forward, reaching a hand out and shaking imad's, "it's nice to meet you, imad. er, properly." julius' touch lingers, not wanting to let go of imad's hand. he's probably shaking it for too long. how long did one normally shake another's hand?? julius glanced down, cleared his throat, finally stopped shaking imad's hand after probably 30 seconds, rubbed at the side of his neck again.

considered, but then stepped back, wanting to give imad space. "....your name suits you, i like it."

the little apology caught him off guard, and he chooses to nod as he shifts his weight from one foot to the other, seeing yet another change in the man's demeanor. stone figured julius was likely pushing himself way out of his comfort zone, and he really did wonder just why that was. the man had shown he was very capable of deflecting, of being indifferent to what stone said and even expressed, so why the change of heart?

"I'd like to know you, as much as you feel comfortable telling me. In turn I will tell you about myself, that way it is an even exchange."

he offers him a reassuring smile, his previous look of annoyance fading away as he takes on a more friendly stance. "We could start with our first names, yeah? I am Imad, what is yours? I'd at least like to properly address the person I am speaking with."

he didn't think sonic would hug him back. he couldn't remember the last time he had given someone else a hug, genuinely, and felt safe in their arms. his grip on sonic increased subtly, a shivered exhale of relief and peace leaving him. his head turned in towards sonic without his conscious realization, grateful. if sonic thought so, then yes, julius would try again. perhaps next time, they could spend time together at sonic's home. maybe eventually, julius could branch out and start to actually include the other little trio- not right away, but in time. who knew-

"....it's gonna be alright, julius. okay?"

julius' gaze opened, eyebrows slightly furrowing at that. what?... did sonic think he was that overwhelmed by everything? yes he'd been overly stimulated, but being off on this quieter road was calming his nerves down.

"i promise ya, everything''ll be alright."

sonic stepped back. no, something was⸻ a crack of sheer pain caused his sight to turn white from the impact, and before julius could register what was going on, he fell unconscious.

only to startle awake, inhaling sharply and his eyes shooting open. greeted by darkness; but it wasn't a normal type of shadow, he could normally see in the dark. this? like an inky black void, unable to see through it for as hard as he tried.

his knees hurt, and julius realized why. tried to move, but couldn't. his arms, legs and even his neck were bolted in place, massive shackles holding him down, chained and reinforced into the floor. he was being forced to hunch forward, couldn't even twitch his arms. there was a half mask clamped along his jaw, stopping just at the middle of the bridge of his nose, restricting him from talking.

at most, the only thing he could move were his eyes, and he could hear his own rasped breathing under that half-mask, getting heavier and heavier the longer he sat in this reality. how-

"....it's gonna be alright, julius. okay?""

he⸻ sonic had⸻ his breathing hitched, getting more uneven as the realization slowly dawned on him, widened gaze, pupils shrinking in shock. julius tried, he focused, as best he could, but he couldn't push out his chaos energy. couldn't begin to build it, tap into it, no matter how he tried. whatever they were restricting him with, wasn't giving him any access to his chaos energy. he couldn't escape this, truly. he was trapped.

his eyes skewed shut, for a brief moment, not wanting to believe. sonic wouldn't⸻ julius had trusted him⸻ felt his body tensing, and his mouth opened and a scream left him, that sound elongated, sheer rage, disbelief, hatred, anger that burned at his lungs and caused his throat to ache but that scream wouldn't stop, getting louder and more desperate and breaking on the edges from how intense as that near roar of betrayal left him.

his expression skewed, eyebrows furrowing as julius hugged him. sonic hesitated before hugging back. he could feel julius' face turning and almost tucking closer to him, and sonic swallowed. "....it's gonna be alright, julius. okay?" his voice is quieter, and it does shake a tad. "i promise ya, everything''ll be alright."

he squeezed julius just slightly, breathed out and stepped back, before swiftly and suddenly jerking his hand forward and slamming it into the side of julius' neck and lower jaw, as hard as he could. watched as julius' eyes widened before he slumped over, knocked unconscious.

a gasped exhale, and sonic swallowed before lifting an arm into the air, motioning with a short wave. it took a second or two before those G.U.N soldiers repelled down the sides of those supposedly empty buildings from their hiding spots on the rooftop.

"excellent work, sonic." clearly the leader of this squadron, addressed sonic. sonic was staring at julius, having to look away as some of those soldiers placed larger restraints along julius' wrists. could hear them doing the same to his legs.

"...he'll get the help he needs. you'll make sure of that." he's turning to look up at the man, who flashes a standard for the public smile.

"at G.U.N, nothing is impossible. even robotnik can be reformed under our guidance." a hand juts out, and sonic shakes his hand, glancing over and watching as those double doors closed, julius now tucked detained. that vehicle begins to drive off.

"....can i see him, at least? you've got like, visitations or something, right?"

"i am afraid not. robotnik is a.... let's say a flight risk. he will be better off under our care without any outside influences."

"better off..." sonic echoed, inhaled, exhaled, nodded. right. this was, for the best. julius would be able to get the mental, and the emotional help he needed.

his jaw clenched, however subtly. that irritation grew at how, placid stone was being. resigned. fight for another version of himself, supposedly, but not him, hm? tch. whatever. he focused, feeling that sensation and sensing that chaos energy from stone's world. very briefly, like a flickering tether that julius grabbed onto. bolstered by stone remembering his world & julius making physical contact.

his eyes glowed, shimmering before stone would blink, and be back in his own world.

julius' hand lingered there, poised, not moving as though still having his hand on stone's chest. then his arm slacked, and he exhaled deeply while looking skyward. that same gloved hand moved, to rub at his eyes underneath his sunglasses, before he turned and tried to resume what he was doing.

stone felt... angry? at being so easily dismissed, which was a bit strange considering he was used to it from his doctor and never had it bothered him until now. why did it bother him so much? more importantly, how could this man send him back?

he looks down at the hand splayed on his chest, then looks back up into the lenses of the man's sunglasses, bending a bit backwards when once again they were in close proximity.

knowing he'd get nowhere he ultimately resigns himself with a sigh, indeed closing his eyes and focusing on the earth he was from. oh well. just because it didn't work this time doesn't mean the next time wouldn't work.

after all, he'd waited almost half a decade to get here... what's another year or more, really?